page_title: USS Tennessee (BB-43)
section_title: Guam and Tinian
hierarchical_section_title: USS Tennessee (BB-43) / Service history / World War II / The Mariana and Palau Islands / Guam and Tinian
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy battleship USS Tennessee (BB-43) bombarding Guam, 19 July 1944.
context_page_description: USS Tennessee (BB-43) was the lead ship of the Tennessee class of dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Tennessee class was part of the standard series of twelve battleships built in the 1910s and 1920s, and were developments of the preceding New Mexico class. They were armed with a battery of twelve 14-inch guns in four three-gun turrets. Tennessee served in the Pacific Fleet for duration of her peacetime career. She spent the 1920s and 1930s participating in routine fleet training exercises, including the annual Fleet Problems, and cruises around the Americas and further abroad, such as a goodwill visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1925.
  Tennessee was moored in Battleship Row when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which brought the United States into World War II. She was not seriously damaged, and after being repaired she operated off the West Coast of the US in 1942.
context_section_description: The ship remained in Eniwetok until 16 July, when she got underway in company with California, now assigned to TG 53.5, the bombardment group for the invasion of Guam. The ships arrived off Guam three days later and on the morning of 20 July, they joined the bombardment of the island that had begun twelve days before. The ships of TG 53.5 pounded Japanese positions around the island throughout the day. The next morning, they continued the shelling as ground forces stormed the beaches. Tennessee withdrew later in the day and steamed to Saipan on 22 July to replenish her ammunition. Tinian was the next island to be attacked, and Tennessee arrived off that island early the next morning as part of a diversionary bombardment meant to deceive the Japanese defenders as to where the landing would take place. She shelled the southwest coast throughout the morning and afternoon before withdrawing for the night.
  Tennessee returned to Tinian on 24 July, this time cruising off the island's northwest coast in company with California, Louisville, and several destroyers. The bombardment group unleashed a flurry of shells from a range of around 2,500 yd (2,300 m) from 05:32 to 07:47, at which point the marines made their assault on the beach. The ships remained on station through 26 July, providing support to the marines as they battled the Japanese defenders. During the bombardment, Tennessee and California flattened Tinian Town with a barrage of 480 rounds from their main batteries and 800 shells from their 5 in guns. Tennessee rotated out to Saipan on 27 July to replenish fuel and ammunition before returning the next day. She once again left for more ammunition at Saipan on 29 July and resumed bombardment duties on the 30th. That morning, one of her Kingfishers accidentally collided with a Marine OY-1 spotting plane, causing both aircraft to crash and killing both aircrews. Fighting ashore continued until the morning of 31 July, and at 08:30, Tennessee ceased firing. After a stop at Saipan, she steamed to Guam, where the battle still raged, to provide fire support until 8 August.
caption: Tennessee bombarding Guam, 19 July 1944.
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